Kamen Rider is a long-running, popular superhero TV series in Japan that has only recently been released in the U. S. Over the past year, I've watched and enjoyed dozens of episodes from the show's original nine seasons, collectively known as the Showa Era and produced between 1971 and 1989. While I don't think any version I've seen qualifies as classic television, these early seasons are at least highly entertaining.
After 1989, Kamen Rider went on a long hiatus - not returning until the season in question, known as Kuuga (2000). So, this season was a major reboot of the franchise for a new generation. Generally speaking, it gets excellent reviews. (That said, Kamen Rider has mostly been reviewed by enthusiastic fans, and all the seasons tend to get excellent reviews.)
Unfortunately, I just watched seven episodes of Kuuga and decided that I kind of hate it. Where to begin? It looks simply hideous. The early seasons of Kamen Rider were shot on normal film, while Kuuga was shot on poor-quality video. I'd say that it resembles an infomercial or a sitcom, but that would be generous. Actually, it looks like it was shot by your Uncle Fred, using that cheap camcorder he's kept in the attic for about 20 years.
Adding to the pain, the digital special effects in Kuuga are absolutely dreadful. The early Kamen Rider shows featured fun practical effects, real pyrotechnics, and occasionally impressive stunts and wire work. Kuuga, on the other hand, has cheesy digital explosions and corny computer animation instead of real stunts. It reminds me of PlayStation 1 graphics, and is therefore part of a trend that I really hate: movies and TV shows that start to resemble video games.
I don't like the hero either. The actors in the 1970s and 1980s versions of Kamen Rider tended to be handsome cool guys, who wore fashionable clothes and looked good riding motorcycles. But the hero of Kuuga, Yusuke Godai, is an unappealing slacker who looks like he'd rather be sleeping than fighting evil. In fact, the show's closing credits actually show him taking a nap in the park! Heroic, eh? In theory, the idea of casting a nerdier and more sensitive actor as Kamen Rider is interesting, but in practice it falls flat for me.
It doesn't help that his origin is dull; he puts on a magic belt and becomes a superhero, yay. Where's the backstory, the trauma, the...anything? I don't much care for the villains either, who seem like a bunch of goth nightclub people hanging out in an aquarium. Seven episodes in, and I have no idea why I should care about any of these people.
Mercifully, I did enjoy a few aspects of Kuuga. There's a policeman character who is pretty cool. Some of the monster scenes work well and are surprisingly violent. There's even a scary found-footage scene in the opening episode that I thought was effective. Unfortunately, the negative aspects far outweighed the positive for me.
I know I'm in the minority, since many fans really like this version. However, I would caution old-timers such as myself to perhaps avoid Kuuga and investigate the earlier seasons of Kamen Rider instead. For me, this season is an ugly digital nightmare - a bunch of pixels coughed up on the screen, rather than a real TV show. Someone put on the 1971 version instead, please...
